Just before heading to Topeka, Kansas for a celebration of a landmark civil rights case, President George W. Bush renewed his call for a constitutional amendment to strip the right of marriage that was granted today to gay and lesbian citizens by the state of Massachusetts.
"The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges," Bush said in a written statement. Bush is expected to speak at a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education, a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court that ended racial segregation and paved the way for racial equality.
This morning the state of Massachusetts became the first state to recognize same-sex marriages, a victory for social progressives in the so-called “cultures wars” that are currently pitting those who hold on to traditional value systems against progressives who seek a more laissez-faire attitude to morality.
In accordance with a state Supreme Court order to recognize same-sex marriages by today’s date, city clerks across the state begin accepting “Notice of Intention of Marriage” forms as early as midnight. Technically, applicants must wait three days after filing their notice to get married, but the waiting period can be waived with a court order.
The Associated Press reports that at 9:15 a.m. Tanya McCloskey and Marcia Kadish of Malden, Mass. became one of the first lesbian couples legally married in the United States of America.
Unlike the same-sex marriages that took place earlier this year in San Francisco and other cities across the county, the marriages that have taken place today are undeniably legal.
Hundreds of gay and lesbian marriages were conducted in San Francisco in February, but the California Supreme Court ordered a halt to the practice until the issue has worked its way through the courts.
Many legal experts believe that without a constitutional amendment to the federal constitution, courts will eventually determine that gays and lesbians have the right to marry each other across the country, even in states that have so-called “protection of marriage” laws that specifically prevent homosexuals from being married
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, an adamant opponent of same-sex marriage, has reportedly ordered city clerks to recognize a 1913 statute which states that only people who would have had the option of getting married in their own state can be married in Massachusetts.
At least three district attorneys have declared they would not seek to enforce the statute, leaving room for out of state homosexual couples to get married in Massachusetts, then return to their home state where they can sue for their marriage to be recognized.
The Massachusetts state legislature is currently attempting to pass a “protection of marriage” amendment to their constitution, but it won’t come to a public vote until 2006.
The proposed amendment attempts to grant both heterosexuals and homosexuals the same rights, but only heterosexuals would get married; homosexuals would enter into a “civil union.” Vermont recognizes civil unions, though it does not recognize gay and lesbian marriages.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has already declared that they would not accept a “separate, but equal” law, necessitating the amendment.
Ironically, Brown v. the Board of Education, the ruling being celebrated today, struck down the “separate but equal” rationalization that led to racial segregation.
Gay and lesbian couples across the country began demonstrating today for the right to marriage as opponents of gay marriage began actively promoting the amendment suggested by Bush.
“Churches will be muted, schools will be forced to promote homosexuality as a consequence-free alternative lifestyle, and our nation will find itself embroiled in a cultural, legal and moral quagmire,” predicted Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a right-wing conservative group.
Same-sex marriage is just one of the issues ascribed to the current culture wars. Others include abortion rights, sex education, and adult entertainment.
